Assistance to the electoral process in Mozambique : final report

Report covers the period 5/93-4/95. Strong, coherent, and independent direction by the National Elections Commission and the dedication and civic awareness of the Mozambicans who conducted the electoral process were decisive in overcoming obstacles -- mutual distrust between the parties involved, social breakdown and physical destruction caused by war, and the return of thousands of refugees and the internal movements of displaced populations -- that might have threatened the success of the elections. The election results, announced by the Chairman of the National Election Commission on 11/19/94, were accepted by the parties, and the elections were recognized as free and fair by the United Nations and the international community. Many observers consider the elections to be an example to be followed in other countries in Africa. The project has provided Mozambique with a human, material, and informational patrimony which provides a base from which to conduct future elections; the electoral process gave Mozambique the opportunity to train and directly involve in the elections more than 64,000 people (2,600 members and officers of the electoral structures, 8,000 registration agents, 1,600 civic education agents, and 52,000 polling station officers), to acquire registration and voting materials, more than 200 vehicles of various kinds, as well as other logistical and technological equipment, and to carry out voter registration for the first time.